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United States Patent | 6,108,686 |
Williams, Jr. | August 22, 2000 |
A Subject-specific Information Retrieval and Viewing System (SIRViS) enables multiple users of a local computer system to access information stored remotely on a wide area network. The SIRViS is designed to retrieve and display to a user information relating to a particular, predefined subject area. The SIRViS includes a graphical user interface including a control panel and a content viewer. The control panel enables each local user to define a unique set of search rules for locating information on the particular subject area stored in one or more remote databases across the network. The control panel provides each set of search rules to a search agent, which accesses content in the remote databases according to the search and stores the information in a local database, including maintaining the overall structure in which the data was stored in the remote database and associating retrieved information with particular sets of search rules. Any of the local users can use the content viewer to access and display information stored in the local database relating to the particular subject area and to that particular user. The local processing system may include multiple SIRViS, each of which is customized to retrieve and display information in a different subject area.
Inventors: | Williams, Jr.; Henry R. (11 Broadway, Third Floor, New York, NY 10004) |
Appl. No.: | 034773 |
Filed: | March 2, 1998 |
Current U.S. Class: | 709/202; 709/203; 709/217 |
Intern'l Class: | G06F 015/16 |
Field of Search: | 709/202,203,217 707/1-6,10,516,104 |
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5920856 | Jul., 1999 | Syeda-Mahmood | 707/3. |
5974441 | Oct., 1999 | Rogers et al. | 709/200. |
5983200 | Nov., 1999 | Slotznick | 705/26. |
5983218 | Nov., 1999 | Syeda-Mahmood | 707/3. |
6009422 | Dec., 1999 | Ciccarelli | 707/4. |
6029165 | Feb., 2000 | Gable | 707/3. |
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